Raging Against the Machine

By Oliver Price, Curtin University, AI for Good Fellow 2025

Oliver (left) with his AI For Good Fellows: Kierem, Adele, and Mia.

In 19th-century England, a wave of workers revolted against the machines they perceived as replacing their jobs. This group was referred to as Luddites, and the term has come to mean someone opposed to technological change and automation. 

I entered Canberra a self-professed Luddite, and I felt this was for good reason. 

Technology is evolving at a pace few of us can comprehend, and policymakers struggle to keep up. News headlines feature reports of AI discriminating against minority groups in decision making, guiding missiles to maximise fatalities, and replacing the arts and humanities. Similar to the Luddites, workers across industries may find themselves replaced as the capabilities of AI continue to rapidly increase.

Australia has already felt the effects of unrestrained AI technology. In 2015, an automatic AI welfare system wrongly accused hundreds of thousands of users of having outstanding payments, resulting in the infamous RoboDebt scandal. In 2024, a news organisation published an image of a female politician, allegedly digitally altered by AI to expose her midriff. In 2025, a schoolboy was found circulating explicit videos of his female classmates generated using artificial intelligence technology. AI is not an emerging technology—it has already emerged, and we are living with the consequences.

Much like the Luddites of Industrial Revolution England, humanity faces existential threats in the wake of Artificial Intelligence technology.

Unlike the Luddites, we still have the opportunity to define the use of this technology.    

During my whirlwind tour of Canberra with Global Voices, I met with the most passionate, brilliant, and thoughtful individuals I could have ever imagined: experts who had genuine faith in humanity and our ability to overcome the global issues we confront, policymakers who endeavour to raise the voices of youth in these existential conversations, and specialists who wholeheartedly believe that AI can be for good.

And there is no reason AI cannot be for good. It holds the keys to alleviating the burden on our overloaded healthcare workers and aiding in administering our swelling aged care system. We could use this technology to pump up stalling productivity in the global economy and efficiently run the renewable energy systems we need to fight climate change. The gold rush for AI is occurring, and we must act quickly to reap the rewards.

Oliver (left) and the AI for Good Fellows meeting with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

To achieve the desired outcomes we need to set expectations. The Luddite within me fears that, if left unchecked, humanity may never benefit from AI innovations. Guardrails are required to ensure the tide of change stays on track and does not stray from the path of good. Innovators should be required to centre fundamental values when developing new systems, underpinning consensus-making and minority representation to ensure everyone has a stake in the technology. Democratising AI will allow for trust to be built, enabling innovation to flourish.

Of course, this is all easier said than done.

We live in an international system that is turning on itself. Countries are withdrawing from global decision-making and shifting to isolationism. Our fractured and ideologically divided global organisations are struggling to retain the interest of world leaders, let alone reach meaningful commitments. The promise that our representatives will collaborate to enact ambitious and practical solutions to existential challenges seems fantastical. It feels so incredibly ironic that in the century where we face issues of growing global significance, we seem unwilling to share ideas, pool resources, and collaborate to protect the vulnerable communities most affected.

But there is hope in this hopeless system.

Despite entering the Canberra briefings incredibly pessimistic about the state of the world, I have left with renewed faith in humanity's ability to tackle these issues. Science and diplomacy are increasingly interlinked, and passionate individuals are petitioning policymakers to take action while we have the chance. As technology evolves, more options become available, and it only takes a little aspiration to amplify these opportunities into big solutions. 

AI can and should be for good, and we need people with passion to achieve this.

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The views and opinions expressed by Global Voices Fellows do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation or its staff.